My gap year has turned into gap years due to illness - worried about prospects

I think you should worry about getting well before anything else, good luck with your chemo.
I think you'll be fine when you apply, with just this explanation.

So sorry to hear that your cancer is not in remission anymore. Having been in a somewhat similar situation myself a while back, hopefully I can offer up some advice.

Do you think that my situation (taking multiple gap years in which I didn't do anything extremely exciting) has diminished the strength of my application?

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Will adcoms accept the explanation that I was sick for parts of my time off between undergrad and med school as a good enough reason for this?

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No I don't think your situation of taking multiple gap years will diminish the strength of your application. And,yes, I believe that adcoms will accept the explanation that you were sick as good enough reason for taking time off - however, don't quote me on this since I'm just going through the application process myself. I highly doubt that adcoms will look negatively at the fact that you're taking time off because you're battling cancer. In fact, your experience as a patient gives you a unique perspective of medicine and will likely strengthen your application (although, it's definitely a perspective no one ever hopes to have 🙁)

Will they accept this AND judge me equally against other people who were able to work/ do activities continuously?

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The fact that you're volunteering while on chemo is admirable. I think you have more than adequate reason to not be working - plus volunteering is an activity!

I guess part of the problem is that it's hard for me to now be 24 and see all my friends (and even students I've TAed and tutored) go off to med school without me. I feel like everyone is waiting for me to get in and like I'm letting them down by not having done it yet! I want to be one of those "I never gave up and look what I did" stories but some of my family think it's time to just sit back, marry my boyfriend, and do something less strenuous than medicine. So I wanted to use you all as a sanity check - to make sure that I'm not being crazy and chasing something that I no longer have a shot at. As good as my reasons are, the fact is that my application is a lot more complicated and convoluted than most other people's. I wish I had a nicer neater story but it is what it is...

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24 is by no means old, although I completely know where you are coming from (non-trad myself). Your MCAT score and GPA are both competitive, and I think your chances of getting into medical school are high. Whether that is a year from now or several years from now makes no difference. Yes, you will be a bit older than the average applicant, but you will have much greater maturity/experiences as well as perspective on life than if you were an average 22 year old applying to medical school.

I don't think you are crazy to pursue something that you've always wanted to do. My family has said the same thing to me - i.e. why am I not pursuing a career that is less stressful and strenuous. However, after telling them that it is something that I just HAVE to do and the only career I can ever imagine doing, they've become much more supportive. I also think the fact that they've seen my at my most vulnerable (during the time when I was sick) and that they genuinely care and worry for my well being, makes them say those things. I think they're worried that somehow going to medical school will make me sick again 🙄

It seems to me that your family may be similar to my family. Hopefully they'll begin to see where you are coming from if you tell them that being a doctor is something you truly want to do and is something that will make you happy.

Best wishes, and if you ever need someone to talk to - just PM me.

-excitedneuron

Yes, you have a shot and furthermore you have a hook (It sounds like you've spent your gap years playing basketball or golf 😀 ). Life experience counts for something and you are having a life experience that while you would not wish it on your worst enemy, is one that can inform your approach to patients. You may not only know which chemotherapy agents cause fatigue and mouth sores but just what that feels like and perhaps some self-care strategies that can help.

Do you like to write? Do you have enough energy for a blog? What you are going through could be of great help to others in the same boat (I found much helpful information from diary/blogs of people who had an injury similar to mine when I wondered if what I was experiencing was common or at the extreme.)

Do your any other talents that you could use during these forced confinements? Drawing, photography, horticulture?

Of course, any volunteering and community service is good too.

You will need to explain the reason for the multi-year gap but you can say a recurrence of cancer without getting all technical. Keep in mind that the adcom can include people from many different specialties and some will not have seen or heard of your condition since they were M3 students sometime in the last century. Furthermore, your medical record is confidential and you control the release of information from it.